Forum Discussion

Buckeyewriting's avatar
Jul 02, 2017

Need advice on purchase

Looking at this camper - would like to know what you all think... we are thinking we'll camp 3-4 times a year and two of those will be just down the road from us. Beginners for sure, but have experience with a pop-up camper.

We don't mind a little bit of a fixer upper, and realize that our budget is small (~8k). This one is pricing around 7200.Yes... we have a tow vehicle. Our tow vehicle is a Dodge Ram truck.


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2007 Jayco Jay Feather 213 for sale in good condition. Light-weight trailer
A/C, heater, awning, queen size rear slide-out, new battery, shower/tub, plenty of storage. Bottom bunk folds up to be able to store large items through the Bicycle storage door.
Includes hitch and other trailer accessories.

Specs
Weights:
Unloaded vehicle weight (lbs.) 4115
Hitch weight (lbs.) 465
Gross vehicle weight (lbs.) 5500
Cargo carrying capacity (lbs.) 1385

Measurements:
Exterior travel length 23'7"
Exterior campsite length 27'6"
Exterior height w/opt AC 116"
Interior headroom (living area) 78"

Tank Capacities:
Fresh water capacity (gals.) includes water heater 30
Gray wastewater capacity (gals.) 30
Toilet/black wastewater capacity 23

Other:
Sleeping capacity 6-8, 6 comfortably
  • make sure your truck can tow it,, check date on tire if cracks, if there over four years old they gotta go, look for ANY signs of water stains, around the ceiling, if theres any ? RUN. if a dealer? it can be bought for less. and don,t beleave most of what he tells you, frig should be turned on and working ONE DAY before you buy it, takes apprx 12hrs for a frig to get to temp. have you,ll find things nobody told you about but its all part of owning a rv,
  • If you like the floor plan and no signs of water damage/delamination, everything works and it works for you buy it.
  • Open every cabinet, with flashlight in hand to examine for water damage. Look for signs of recent painting of any surface, especially around any roof opening (skylight, AC, Antenna). And it may seem strange, sniff everywhere, often problems can be covered to hide visable trouble, but odors are harder to hide unless they are masking them with some spray, which is also an indicator.
    If the belly is not enclosed look at the plumbing lines, any changes in materials, color? It could indicate an old failure to winterize and a spring disaster.
    The Jayco line has a strong following and most of their products seem well received. Do Your diligence, and make the best call you can.
  • Water intrusion is the biggest problem for RVs, and it can be their death sentence as well. Typically, water stains on the ceiling are rare, but around windows, corners, on the walls and floors is where you most likely will see staining. Check around on the inside where clearance lights and tail lights are on the outside. Get on the roof and check the caulk everywhere. Any cracking or missing caulk most likely means at least some water intrusion.
  • Is the 2007 213 the Jayco with the rear slide? If so you want to really go over that rear slide....lots of problems with them from both water intrusion and structural failure. Also Jayco had some floor delam issues on the Jay Feathers around that time due to adhesive failure.
  • Back in 2007, before we eventually purchased a new 2008 KZ Spree 240BH-LX triple bunk bed travel trailer, we too considered a rear glide model and would offer the following observations.

    1) Around mid to late 2000s Jayco for a time switched to using TPO as a roof membrane instead of EPDM but later discovered the fleece backing of the particular version they were using was wicking in moisture and causing mold issues. If this particular model the OP is considering has this TPO roof membrane I'd avoid it for this reason alone.

    2) While rear glide models were popular around the mid 2000s they've now fallen out of favour, with not many being manufactured these days. That in turn could make eventually reselling this trailer quite difficult as the market for those interested in a rear glide model is quite small these days.

    3) Although most rear glide trailers eventually came with a "king" size rear bed ("king" being ~ 75" x 75") in which a couple would sleep with their feet facing into the trailer this Jayco 213 likely has a queen bed in which one would have to sleep laterally across the width of the bed, meaning that the person sleeping on the outside edge would have to climb over the other occupant in order to get out of bed. Annoying.

    4) Headroom above the top front bunk is quite limited.

    5) Rear glide trailers don't have a large front pass through cargo compartment as do most travel trailers with a front walk around queen bed. In fact, rear glide trailers offer very little cargo storage space ... yes, the lower front bed can be flipped up to create cargo storage space but that in turn means having to move the contents if you want to use that lower bed. Also annoying.

    6) Typical of most rear glide trailers this Jayco 213 has no slide on the street side of the trailer, which in turn makes the interior feel awfully cramped.

    7) In travel mode the rear glide bed blocks the dinette and sofa so mid day stops on the way to one's destination don't work well unless you're willing to pull out the rear glide.

    8) Forum commentary from those that did own a rear glide trailer at that time indicated it was difficult to prevent cold air from penetrating up through that rear bed platform, making for an uncomfortable night's sleep. Lining the rear bed platform with Reflectix, just as I did with all the popups I owned, would help but won't stop any draft leaking past the bed seals.

    JMO, but a conventional travel trailer with a couple of bunk beds would be a far better alternative for most.